Senior Data Architect

Job Description

We are seeking a Senior Data Architect to design enterprise-wide data architectures and data products enabling analytics, regulatory reporting, and operational excellence across Royal Bank of Canada. You will architect cloud and on-premises data platforms primarily on Snowflake, establish architecture standards including AI & ML, lead data product development, and provide technical leadership on mission-critical initiatives in a highly regulated banking environment.

This role offers deep technical influence across the enterprise, with a focus on architecting the data infrastructure and data products that power RBC's data-driven transformation.

• Design enterprise data architectures on Snowflake and cloud data platforms that are scalable, secure, and aligned with enterprise standards.
• Define data architecture standards, best practices, design patterns, and establish governance frameworks across the organization.
• Evaluate emerging data technologies and provide recommendations for adoption.

• Design enterprise data warehouses, data lakes, cloud analytics platforms, and integrated data solutions on Snowflake.
• Define data modeling strategies, logical and physical designs, and schema optimization approaches.
• Design advanced Snowflake features including clustering strategies, data sharing, security models (RBAC, dynamic masking), and cost optimization.
• Architect end-to-end data pipelines using modern integration platforms and cloud-native services.

• Architect scalable, secure, and high-performance data integration solutions using modern ETL/ELT platforms.
• Design comprehensive data governance frameworks, policies, and controls.

• Design and architect data products that deliver business value to internal and external stakeholders.
• Define data product strategies, requirements, and metrics success in collaboration with product and business teams.
• Architect data product pipelines, including ingestion, transformation, serving layers, and APIs.
• Establish data product governance frameworks, versioning, and lifecycle management practices.

• Architect data platforms that support machine learning pipelines and advanced analytics.
• Design solutions integrating Snowflake with AI/ML tools (Snowpark, Python, Spark) for model development and feature engineering.
• Support the development and deployment of predictive models and real-time analytics solutions.

• Architect solutions on Snowflake and cloud data platforms aligned with enterprise strategy.
• Provide technical guidance, mentorship, and code reviews to the team.
• Communicate architectural decisions and trade-offs to senior leadership and stakeholders.

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of experience in data architecture, data engineering, or enterprise data management.
• 6+ years designing enterprise data architectures across multiple domains.
• 6+ years with data warehouses, data lakes, and analytics platforms.
• 6+ years with data modeling and relational/No
  
  SQL database design.
• 6+ years designing and optimizing ETL/ELT and data integration solutions.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience with Snowflake or other similar cloud data platforms.
• 3+ years of experience designing, architecting, or building data products.
• Strong understanding of data governance frameworks, data quality methodologies, and metadata management.
• Experience in highly regulated industries (banking, financial services) with compliance requirements.
• Proven ability to design scalable, secure, and high-performance data solutions.
• Excellent communication skills with ability to translate complex technical concepts for business leadership.
• Agile, CI/CD, and Dev Ops experience; strong SQL optimization skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail.

• Snowflake or cloud data platform certifications.
• Experience with Informatica IICS, IDMC, MDM platforms, data governance tools (Collibra, Alation), or data…